Mason Co. boy, 3, critically hurt; parents questioned
BELFAIR, Wash. - A 3-year-old boy suffered a severe head injury at his home Thursday, and Mason County officials say they are investigating the incident as a possible assault.
Deputies and medics responded to the scene, in the 200 block of NE Madrona Ave in Belfair, at about 11:30 a.m. after receiving a report that the boy was unconscious after slipping and falling, said Mason County Chief Deputy Dean Byrd.
The boy was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he is listed in critical condition.
"We are currently investigating to see exactly what happened," Byrd said. "The circumstances are suspicious enough that we feel an investigation is appropriate."
He said the family of the young boy has had previous contact with Child Protective Services and other law enforcement agencies.
The initial focus of the investigation will be to determine whether the boy's severe injuries are consistent with the parents' account that he slipped and fell in the kitchen, Byrd said.
"We're going to be talking to the parents, we're going to be looking at the crime scene and see if things are consistent with the stories we're getting or not," he said.
Deputies and medics responded to the scene, in the 200 block of NE Madrona Ave in Belfair, at about 11:30 a.m. after receiving a report that the boy was unconscious after slipping and falling, said Mason County Chief Deputy Dean Byrd.
The boy was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he is listed in critical condition.
"We are currently investigating to see exactly what happened," Byrd said. "The circumstances are suspicious enough that we feel an investigation is appropriate."
He said the family of the young boy has had previous contact with Child Protective Services and other law enforcement agencies.
The initial focus of the investigation will be to determine whether the boy's severe injuries are consistent with the parents' account that he slipped and fell in the kitchen, Byrd said.
"We're going to be talking to the parents, we're going to be looking at the crime scene and see if things are consistent with the stories we're getting or not," he said.
I have worked as a social worker for the last 40 years. Working DSHS is a thankless job. Most of the parents they have to work with are problem children themselves. Having removed kids from the home I have been threatened with my life, had furniture thrown at me and other fun things. It is amazing that any of these workers remain in their jobs for more than a year. I understand DSHS has made mistakes but there are many kids alive today because they didn't.
 @Bob S Well Thank you. People are thankful for you. I know its hard to get any respect from people, when it comes to removing a child. The pain hits everyone from parents to third cousins. Your out to help one person, but end up with twenty angry people. That makes it hard to help that one person. Sometimes people need that guidance to become wonderful parents, and its wonderful you are willing to do that.Â
I hope this little one pulls through. Will wait to see what else LEO discovers.
And this is news...why? No one is charged, the police are doing their job, the doctors are doing their job. Lets just convict the parents now and have a lynch mob hang them.
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Of course they are in the loving arms of Washington state DSHS which means they are of course guilty until proven guilty.
Could not have said that better, especially the part about DSHS. I can speak from firsthand experience there.
These things shouldn't be reported. No one knows what happened yet, and it's vilifying the parents before we even know what's going on.Â
Well interestingly enough two weeks ago my son slipped and fell on the kitchen floor. Â I heard a very load smack and was so scared. Â There was no blood or anything but when I laid him down on my bed, he immediately went to sleep and I couldn't wake him up. Â I called 911 because I thought maybe he had something wrong I could not see. Â Luckily by the time they arrived he was awake and acting totally normal. Â I have two points, it could have happened the way they say it (with the prior CPS and the suspiciousness of it, it doesn't look good however). Â My second point is that I hope that stories such as these don't make it so parents are afraid to call 911 if their child gets hurt out of fear they will be suspect. Â The child is in good hands right now and hopefully will be ok.
I live so close to this house that the news helicopter was directly over head, I am beyond sadden. This is a good community a quite community, I am angry and heartbroken this could possibly happen to an innocent 3 yr old boy.
 @Valerie Hooker That what happened - exactly?
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Nice of you to try, convict and sentence on three paragraphs.
Looks like two sentences to me .
I hope the boy survives!
My son who is now 8 has slipped and fell tons of times HOWEVER he never has required to be airlifted to Harborview!! I find it extremely hard to believe that a child could hurt there had that bad slipping in a kitchen. The fact that CPS investigated them before definetely doesn't help!!
Such a sad story. Hopefully the little guy makes it through.
Maybe slipping and falling off the roof, but I doubt he would be in critical condition from slipping and falling at ground level. Of course it doesn't specify. A ground level fall may knock one out at top speeds, and maybe give you a MILD concussion, but critical condition - I do not believe it.
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Splitting heads open is totally different than ending up in critical care.
I'm glad they are checking out the story but I must say that I wonder at the comments stating that kids don't just slip and fall. Really? Tell that to my daughter who just slipped and fell in the kitchen at age 2 and split her head open. Luckily her hair covers the scarred area. She had been walking since 8 months and walking up stairs on her own from 11 months but still "jusr slipped and fell" right into the corner of the cupboard.
I've raised 3 kids and now have grand kids, and I can tell you, kids do slip, they do fall, but I've never known one to just slip, fall and lose consciousness.  And I've been through 2 boys who played rough.  I've had ER runs for broken arms, the oldest one decided to see how he could get the swing on the playground and then jump.  Problem was, his shirt sleeve caught in the swings chain some how and he broke his arm.  I've had to run to the ER when the boys were rough housing one tripped over my daughter, hit his head on the coffee table and cracked it  open.  Well, there went some stitches.  Got rid of the coffee table after that.  My daughter broke her arm after I told her not to climb to the top of the jungle gym on the play ground. I turned around for what seemed like one minute, and the next thing I know, she's not only up to the top, but falling down.  My youngest one broke his arm doing skate board stunts.  Then, in spite of the dr saying for him to stay off his skate board, he does what boys will do, and got back on his skate board.  Then he proceeded to break his cast.  Did that 3 times in a 2 week time span.  The dr was pretty angry with him.  But, he was 13, he wasn't going to give up his skate board.  Kids will do stupid things,  but there's a difference between hurting a child and a child getting hurt on their own accords and I've never known a child to lose consciousness after a simple fall.  And believe me, my kids put me through a lot.  Funny, they laugh and still tease me for how I reacted when one of them got hurt.  They say I over-reacted.  Somehow, a child needing stitches, is not an over reaction when you don't know if it's going to be more serious than that.  But these parents I see in the news, it makes me wonder why they even have kids....
 @liquidsunshine Welfare recipients what you think? Sounds your good mom, you care and take time raising your kids. Good for you.
@liquidsunshine Really.... My bother slipped and fell out of his bed and ended up in the hospital for the weekend. It does happen although not to often.
 @liquidsunshine Now you can go sit on your porch, drink a cup of coffee and smile. In knowing that your kids have kids, and will be going through the same thing as you.Â
Having previous contact with Child Protective Services and other law enforcement agencies, sure does not look good. I hope this was truly an accident. My thoughts are with the family and friends. I hope the police find that this was not abuse. May the little man heal and bring joy again into the world.Â
At age 2, our son ran around as he was paid for it, one day fell and hit his head at a pointy corner of a pedestal. He developed quite the "horn" within minutes. We brought him to Childrens to be checked out. They were thorough. Questioning both wife and me separately. Good that they do, but I felt a little insulted at first. This case sure looks suspicious, especially with the child losing consciousness. They'll figure it out. Hoping the best for the little one.
 @Komo Dragon Glad your little one apparently came out OK from his mishap. As to this one, unfortunately, "airlifted to Harborview" indicates a much more serious injury than you'd expect from someone this close to the ground simply slipping and falling.
 @MargeGunderson  @Komo Dragon Not necessary it indicates that. The boy may needed to go there because they have the doctor that has knowledge about his situation. My son has been airlifted three times and it was all due to where the doctor was. Â
 @Just my say  @MargeGunderson that's rough. Best of luck. Modern medicine has done miracles for premature babies. I hope he will be fine.
 @Komo Dragon  @MargeGunderson He was born at 28 weeks, and has many problems due to that. He has been through 7 surgery and needs two more (that I know of) Every time something is wrong he is life flight out to where his surgeon is. No other doctors would touch him.Â
 @Just my say  @MargeGunderson Wow, what has your son been up to?
wow...was wondering where all the sheriffs were racing too!!!!
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Yet another child abuse story, almost daily. It's really getting quite frustrating to hear about CPS involvement time after time with this being the end result of their "visits".
I would be highly suspicious if CPS has been to this house before. Three year old kids just don't slip and fall.
@Telman@i don't know what world ypour in but 3 year old slip and fall all the time.Â
 @nunof uors  @i agreed, just not with that level of injury
 @Telman@ Don't forget to add the /sarcasm tag.
Considering the circumstances of the story, I guess I can say I hope that he slipped and fell. Really don't need another story about a poor abused kid.
Uh, huh. Â Right. Â Slipped and fell. Â Having had a number of children myself, they had slips and falls that you would think would split their little noggins wide open. Â To me, that photo of the house shows exactly what you are supposed to look for in trying to determine if you have a meth house in the neighborhood. . . Â I apologize if I'm wrong, but this seems really suspicious to me.
 @Nanamamabjm "Having had a number of children myself, they had slips and falls that you would think would split their little noggins wide open."
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Yes, and then one charges at you full blast to give you a big hug right as you lean forward to pick up your coffee cup, and your chin discovers just how hard those little noggins are. :D :D :D
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Which, sadly, means this is most likely severe child abuse, especially with a history of contacts with CPS and other law enforcement agencies. :(Â
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And I have to agree with your second point also, that is either a meth house, and/or other activities going on there round the clock that no one with a shred of common sense and human decency would allow anywhere near their small children.Â
 @Nanamamabjm What about this home says "meth house"?  Is it the fact that it's a manufactured home or the fact that there are 3 vehicles in the drive/yard?  Let's not stereotype people who live in these homes.  Kids DO slip and fall.  All it takes is just the wrong angle of the fall to seriously injure a child.  Sometimes they hardly even injure themselves after falling down 2 flights of stairs.  Let the facts come out and let them speak for themselves.Â
 @Sharon Blevins Pilgrim  @Nanamamabjm Was gonna say.....I've seen meth houses. They are a lot worse than this. This is just your average home in a state of constant repair that you see in the rural areas a lot more often. CPS gets called on people all the time and finds that there was no abuse....of course they find no abuse sometimes when there is as well. While it is a single story house and therefore not a lot of stairs to fall down even a short fall in a young kid can be damaging if they hit their head. Hopefully it was an accident. Only time will tell.
nanamamabjm-agreed